Washing machine



G. w. DUNHAM WASHING MACHINE Jan. 19, 1932.

, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 17

Jan. 19, 1932. w, DUNHAM 1,842,154

- WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l i if z.-

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I m 1N VEN TOR By zr w- Jan. 19, 1932. G. w. DUNHAM WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VENTOR 717% A TTORNE Y5 Patented Jan. 19, 1932 Y UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE w. DURHAM, or UTICA, NEW YORK, "AssmNoa ro SAVAGE Anus CORPORATION,

O1 U'I'IOA, NEW YORK, CORPORATION OF DELAWARE WA SHINGi MACHINE :5 I Application filed September 1?, 1923.. Serial No. 663,035.

K The object of the invention is to simplify the construction and improve the efliciency of clotheswashing machines, particularly those intended for domestic use and'operatingto dry clothes by centrifugal action. The 1nvention more particularly comprehends a washing machine of this general type in which a reticulated rotary clothes container is shiftable with reference to a liquid-containing tank, in which tank it is supported for rotation in an oblique position, for washing, and in upright position above the llquid, for centrifugal driving. The invention also involves improved principles in the washing process regardless of the change OfPOSltlOIl of the clothes container, and of the method of drying, as well as other features which will hereinafter become apparent. All of the principles of the invention are exemplified in the accompanying drawings, illustrating the form at present preferred, and which will be recognized as capable of embodiment in Va-' rious different forms of structure.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of said preferred form in its clothes-drying or centrifuging position. s

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line II-II thereof in reduced scale.

Fig. 3 is a similar section on line III-III.

Fig. 4 an enlarged central vertical section of the machine in its oblique or washing position. I

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively enlarged sections on lines V-V and VI-VI of the oil pump, and

Figs. and 8 illustrate in larger sectional detail the hub structure in its engaged and disengaged positions.

The machine comprises a tank 1 mounted on three legs 2 and ordinarily provided with a removable cover 3 which is flat and without a top handle, so that it may serve also as a table. The particular shape of the tank and its method of support are details which, in general, are subject to considerable variation within the scope of the invention, although the cylindrical shape and the structural organization hereinafter disclosed also constitute artof the invention, as will later appear. he tank has a maximum diameter not larger than will sufiice for it to be moved through doorways of ordinary size, and is provided with an outlet or drain pipe 4, the stopple for which is connected to a slide rod 5 whereby it may be operated from above the liquid level. The legs 2 are formed of sheet metal bent or pressed into angular shape and secured to a flanged sheet metal frame plate 6. The tank bottom rests on the frame structure thus produced and is appropriately secured to it. The tank is adapted to contain Washing water or other liquid and is ordinarily filled to about one-third of its height or just below the interior flange 7, as indicated in Fig. 1. The term wash water as used herein is intended to include any other liquid than soap and water and the term washing is intended to include any treatment of clothes with such liquid by the use of the machine herein disclosed.

The container for the clothes, or other things or material to be washed or treated, is herein termed the clothes cage orbasket, being a perforated or otherwise reticulated receptacle mounted in the tank and shiftable with respect thereto so that it can take either an oblique or an upright position. In its oblique position, illustrated in Fig. 4., and by dotted lines in Fig. 1, it is arranged to be rotated wth its lower side dipping into the tank liquid, this being the washing position. In its upright or vertical position it is elevated above the liquid and arranged to be rotated at a centrifuging speed considerably faster than the washing speed whereby the clothes are relieved of excess moisture which falls back into the tank liquid. For the performance of these fundamental operations from its oblique to its erect position in which case the cage is a receptac e which is symmetrical with reference to its axis of rotation and of an axial cross section which may central hump 9 on the interior and a corre-' sponding re-entering space on its underside. The axis 10, on which the cage tilts, 1s situated in this underneath reentrant space and the curve of the peripheral wall 8 is approximately concentric to said axis so that thus the F cage is of maximum capacity with respect to a given tank diameter while having adequate clearance from the tank side wall when being tilted. The center of the hump is fiat and re-enforced by an exterior stamping 11 to form a rigid point of attachment for the hub structure 12.

The body of the cage may be made of a single piece of sheet metal, although it is more cheaply made of united sections, as shown in the drawings, the upper side wall part 8 being seamed or otherwise secured to the bottom part. The style of seam shown and marked 8 is what is known in the trade as a lock-seam and is formed by overlapping or folding the margins of the two sections over and upon each other as sufficiently indicated in Fig. 1. The upper edge has a re-enforcing rim 13, rounded on a fairly large radius, by which the cage may be conveniently grasped when it is desired to shift it from one position to the other, which movement requires, in the present case, that it be also slightly lifted in the direction of its axis, in order to disengage the hub structure from the drving means as described below. This style of rim, besides serving as a handle, forms a reinforcement to the cage structure allowing it to be made of thin metal without rendering it subject to deformation in use. The interior of the cage is provided with one or a series of circumferentially arranged, radial wings 14. The slope of the hump is coordinated with the angle of the washing axis of rotation,'so that when the cage is in the washing position the clothes resting in the lower peripheral part, on or between .the wings will be carried upwardly to a position above or upon the hump and will then slide or fall off the hump into the water again. The lower side of the hump is substantially vertical in this position, so that the clothes have practically a sheer drop and the upper side has a suflicient downward slope to cause the clothes, for the most part, to slide over the axis of rotation as they drop into the water. The clothes thus follow a substantially D-shaped path and this treatment of them is found particularly effective for cleansing, being the result of their splashing into the water While they are coincidently -tion is possible and can, of course, be obtained with very simple forms of driving mechanism. It is found that an inclination of the washing axis of about 25 from horizontal is a satisfactory, if not the most efiicient angle, the hump having about the dimensions indicated and, of course, being devoid of obstructions likely to prevent the clothes from freely sliding over it and falling into the lower part, but it will be understood that other shapes of cage and means of mounting it may also be employed and will fall within this invention in so far as they produce the effects described.

The central cage support above referred to consists of an upstanding hollow column 15 mounted on the triangular frame plate 6 above referred to and secured watertight to the rim of an opening in the tank bottom at about the center thereof and having a chamber 16 removably secured to its lower end and depending below the tank bottom, through the flanged hole in said frame plate. The interior of this gear box column and depend ing oil chamber houses all the driving gear, except the motor, and isolates it from the liquid in the tank. The chamber 16 is designed to contain a liberal quantity of lubricant, sufficient for several years of ordinary use, and in the present case serves also as the support for the driving motor which rests on the bracket 28 secured to its bottom wall. The driving gearing comprises high and low speed upright shafts marked 17 and 18, respectively. The former is driven by a bevel pinion 19 on the main drive shaft and the latter is driven by a worm 20 on said drive shaft, as indicated in the drawings. The electric motor, when such power is used, is coupled .to the end of said shaft which projects to the exterior of the chamber 16 through a gland or other form of oil-tight.

bushing. The upper end of the high speed shaft 17 extends through the top of the hollow column at a point above the normal liquid level and is splined at its exposed end to receive the corresponding splined socket of the hub proper 21. (See Figs. 7 and 8). This hub is mounted for longitudinal movement in -the hub sleeve 12 and the latter is journalled by its trunnions 10 in the bearings. indicated at 22 in Figs. land 4. By grasping the clothes cage (by its rounded rim 13) the hub 21 can he slid endwise in the sleeve and thereby engaged and disengaged from the splined end of the shaft and w en disengaged the-hub sleeve 12 can be rocked on its trunnion axis from thewashing to.

the drying position. Fig, 7 illustrates the parts in their engaged position and Fig. 8 in their disengaged position. The hub sleeve 12 forms the bearing for the hub proper 21 and this bearingmay be lubricated in any suitable way. In the present case the hub is hollow and filled with grease through a screw plug opening at the top. However, for most uses of the machine, soap is employed in the wash water and may give a suflicient lubricatingreifect without using the lubrication means just mentioned. g j I When the cage is tilted to its oblique or washing position the hub sleeve 12 occupies the position indicated in Fig. 4 and the hubsocket is pushed "or allowedto slide into engagement with the splined end of the oblique, slow speed shaft 23, which shaft is journalled in the top of the column structure and driven through the bevel gears 24 from the .low speed shaft 18. The preferred design of the cage-support and drive gearing is clearly shown in the drawings and does not require description, it being apparent that various forms of gear devices can be installed in or on the column for imparting the appro-' priate speeds to the cage, in its two positions,- whether by means of splines or clutches on the ends of shafts, as shown, or otherwise. The axes of the high speed shaft 17 and the oblique, low speed shaft 23 intersect at the trunnion axis and although both of these shafts are located above the normal liquid level they are provided with washers such as 25 to keep liquid out of the oil-containing cage support. The spline grooves on the ends of these shafts are shown as spirally inclined in the direction of rotation. This causes the hub socket to be drawn toward the shaft and held in secure engagement therewith,

thereby guarding. against accidental disconnection while not in the least interfering with the free unclutchingof the parts when desired. The splined socket in the lower end of the hub 21, appearing in Figs. 7 and 8, is formed of a separate part 21a of metal'hardened to he durable and secured against dis placement by a crosspin which appears in section; this construction, however, is merely a detail and subject to ex'tensive'variation according to the style of separable attachment used for connecting the clothes container with its respective driving members. 7 The hub sleeve 12 is provided with an abutment surface 30 which engages the cross rod 31 in each of its two positions, the said rod being equidistant from each axis and so placed that it stops the hub at the extreme of its tilting movement in both directions and in correct alignment with the shafts 17 and 23, one stop member thus suiiicing for both movements.

The hearings in the upper art of the cage support are lubricated with t e oil contained in the chamber 16 by means of an oil pump,

the design of which will be sufficiently clearfrom'Figs. 5 and 6, it bein observed that the pump forces oil upwar ly through the longitudinal duct in the high speed shaft to the annular groove 26 in its upper bearing. From this groove the oil is squirted over to the gears 24 and into the pocket formed by the upstanding lip adjacent the low speed shaft 18, and to the upper bearing of said shaft, whence it returns to the main bod of oil to pass again through the pump. t is a feature of the oil pump design that the pump gears thereof, marked 27, and the passages therethrough are closed in and covered by the motor bracket 28, so that the removal of the latter renders-the pumpv gears accessible. The motor bracket 28 thus serves a double purpose, but obviously any suitable typeof lubricating system can be adapted to the gearing according to its form and arrangement.

It may be noted that although the clothes cage dips into the tank liquid only on one side of the cage support and the body of water on the opposite side thereof is apparently not utilized, it is, in fact, utilized because the rotation of the clothes cage on one side of the tank produces a horizontal circulation of, the water therein and this not only gives the benefit of the use of a relatively large quantity of water for the washing operation, but also causes a more rapid inflow of water through the holes in the cage on its downwardly moving side. In consequence of these conditions, it is one of the features of this invention in its preferred forms to mount 1 the clothes cage in a tank of appropriate section below the waterline to accommodate and facilitate such horizontal circulation, a circular section both above and below the water line being most conveniently constructed. When the washing process has been completed, the electric motor is stopped, by means of an appropriate switch not shown and the cage is shifted to its upright position, Fig. 1. After the clothes have been distributed with some degree of uniformity about the central hump, the motor is again started and the clothes are centrifilgally dried. For this process it will be noted that the point of bearing support of the cageapthat the load of the clothes cage and gearing is. carried by the frame plate 6 and legs 2' independently of the tank and that the latter is substantially free of all load except that represented by its contained liquid and minor parts, this being also one of the characteris-v tic features of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a washing machine a rotary container in which clothes are washed by tumbling into the wash water, said container having a hump in its bottom which is devoid of projection capable of preventing sliding of clothes across the axis of the hump, a support holding said container with its rotary axis inclined to horizontal at such angle as will cause the clothes to slide by gravity through the axis of the container over the tip of the hump and means for rotating said container.

2. In a washing machine, a tank containing the wash water, a rotary perforate container in the tank in which clothes are washed by tumbling into said water, said container havinga hump in its bottom which is devoid of projection capable of preventing sliding of clothes across the axis of the hump, a support on which said container rotates with one side dipping into said water and with its rotary axis inclined to horizontal at such angle as will cause the clothes to slide by gravity through such axis over the tip of the hump, falling to the low side thereof, means whereby said container may be shifted to bring its axis to an upright position for drying the clothes and means for rotating the container in either its inclined or upright position.

3. In a washing machine, a liquid-containing tank, a clothes cage, means supporting same to operate in the tank at an oblique angle for washing with its lower side dipping below the liquid level, a motor connected for continuously rotating the cage at said angle and in one direction, said cage having an internal central hump devoid of projection capable of obstructing sliding movement of clothes across the axis of said hump and having one or more internal clothes-engaging projections, said angle, hump and projections being mutually coordinated to cause the clothes to slide over the top of the hump and splash in the liquid.

4. A washing machine comprising a tank, an upstanding substantially central support therein, a clothes cage obliquely mounted on said support and dipping into the tank liquid on one side of said support, and means for rotating the cage.

5. A washing machine comprising a liquid tank, a clothes cage ad aptcd to rotate therein on an oblique axis approximating 25 and dipping into the liquid, said cage having a humped bottom wall the slope of the lower part of which is substantially vertical at said angle.

6. In a washing machine, a tank, a clothes cage tiltable therein for rotation therein on an oblique axis for washing and on a vertical axis for centrifugal drying, a driving element for the vertical position and a driving element for the oblique position whose axes of rotation meet in the axis on which the clothes cage is tiltable, means for driving said elements at different speeds, and clutch means for connecting the cage to one or the other of said driving elements.

7. In a washing machine, an outer recep tacle a supporting structure therein, relatively angular driving shafts mounted in said supporting structure, a rotary clothes cage tiltably mounted on said structure, and means for operatively connecting the clothes cage to either driving shaft.

8. In a washing machine, a tank, and a. rotary clothes cage mounted to tilt therein and having its side wall tumbled-home, thereby providing clearance from the sides of the tank when being tilted.

9. A washing machine comprising a liquid holding tank having a substantially circular horizontal section above and below the liquid level, a clothes cage tiltably mounted therein to rotate on relatively inclined axes for washing and drying respectively, said cage having a tumbled-home peripheral wall.

10. In a washing machine, a clothes cage having a re-entering bottom, bearing means within the space formed by said re-entering bottom and on which the clothes cage is adapted to be tilted into washing and drying positions, and means for rotating said clothes cage in both positions.

11. In a washing machine, a liquid holding tank, a rotary clothes cage tiltable therein into washing and drying positions and having a re-entering bottom, and bearing means within the space formed by said reentering bottom and on which the clothes cage is adapted to be tilted.

12. A washing machine comprising a rotary clothes cage having a re-entrant bottom and a tumbled-home side wall, a support connected to the cage within the re-entrant space, said cage being adapted to tilt on the suport.

p 13. In a washing machine, a liquid holding tank, a supporting structure therein, a clothes cage tiltably and rotatably mounted on said supporting structure, the axis on which the clothes cage tilts and the bearing in which it rotates being located above the plane of the lowest part of its bottom.

14. In a washing machine, a tank, a circular clothes cage of kidney-shaped axial cross section centrally mounted to tilt therein on a transverse axis for rotation on either of two relatively angular axes, and means for unidirectionally rotating the clothes cage in either of said positions.

15. In a washing machine, a tank, a supwashing and on a vertical axis for porting structure upstanding from its bottom, a clothes cage tiltable thereon into either of two positions of adjustment, a,single stop on said support for both positions, andv means for rotating the clothes cage in both positions.

16. In a washing machine, a tank, a sup.- porting structure therein, a sleeve trunnioned on said support for tilting into either of two positions of adjustment in which its axes are relatively inclined, a clothes cage rotatably mounted in said trunnioned sleeve, a single stop on said support preventing overtilting in either direction and means for rotating said clothes cage in each position.

17. In a washing machine, a tank, a supporting structure located therein, a trunnionedsleeve mounted on said supporting structure, a hub rotatable in said trunnioned sleeve, a clothes cage rotatable with said hub, two driving means of for connecting the clothes cage with either according to the position to which it is tilted, and means for unidirectionally driving the slower speed shaft.

18. In a washingmachine, a' clothes receptacle having a hub, a tiltabl sleeve in which said hub is journalled for endwise and rotary movement and being thereby adapted to be releasably engaged with a driving element in either of two positions.

19. In a washing machine, a tank, a supporting structure centrally upstanding therein, a trunnioned sleeve mounted in said supporting structure, a clothes cage in said tank having a hub journalled in said trunnioned sleeve for rotation and endwise-movement therein, and a driving element with which said hub is engageable by endwise movement in said sleeve.

20. In a washing machine. a stationary liquid containing tank, a shiftable rotary clothes cage, means for supporting the same for r0.- tation in the tank on an oblique axis for drying, a motor and connections between said motor and clothes cage for rotating said clothes cage at a fast speed for drying and at a slower speed for washing.

21. In a washing machine, a tank, a rotary clothes cage tiltable with reference thereto to an oblique position for washing and to a vertical position as a centrifugal drier, and separate driving connections for the clothes cage in the washing and the drying positions, both serving to drive the cage continuously in one direction.

22. In a washing machine, a liquid holding tank, a clothes cage rotatably and tiltably mounted within said tank, a supporting structure upstanding in said tank and on which the clothes cage is mounted, a high speed shaft having a vertical axis and a slow speed shaft whose axis is oblique to that of the highspeed shaft, both of which shafts are mounted different speeds, means in the supporting structure,- and clutch means for connectin the clothes cage to either of said driving shafts when in al gnment therewith, the mounting of the clothes cage, the oblique shaft and the upper end of the vertical shaft as well as the clutch means being located above the liquid level in the tank.

23. In a washing machine of the continuous rotation type, a tank, a clothes cage, supporting structure upstanding in said tank, said clothes cage being tiltably mounted on said supporting structure, a vertical driving shaft and an oblique driving shaft contained in said supporting structure, means for operatively connecting the clothes cage with either of said driving shafts, and a sin- 'le shaft extending into said structure for driving said shafts at respectively diiferent speeds.

24. In a washing machine, a tank, a clothes cage tiltable with respect thereto on a horizontal axis'for rotation therein on an oblique axis as a washer and on a vertical axis as a centrifugal drier, a motor, operative connections between said motor and clothes. cage for rotating the same more rapidly in drying than in washing position, said connections serving for releasably retaining the axis of the clothes cage vertical or oblique as the case may be and the operative connections intact in either position.

25. In a washing machine, a circular clothes cage tiltably and rotatably mounted, a supporting structure for said clothes cage, cagedrivmg means mounted in said supporting structure for operative connection with the clothes cage in each of two positions to which it may be tilted, said means being within the circumference of said cage, and a motordriven shaft operatively connected to both of said driving means.

26. A centrifugal extractor basket formed of sheet metal and adapted to be tilted from a vertical rotary axis to an inclined rotary axis on which it is rotated for washing, and comprising a hub section, and a basket wall supported thereby, said wall extending outwardly and downwardly from the hub section and thence outwardly and upwardly to the zone of greatest diameter of the basket and thence upwardly and inwardly forming a relatively contracted opening at the top of the basket, said zone of greatest diameter being not above the horizontal plane of the top of said hub section.

7 27 In a'washing machine, a tank, a hollow supporting structure upstanding from the bottom of the tank, driving gearing located in said structure, a tilting clothes cage having a re-entrant bottom space and means 00- cupying said space whereby said cage is rotated in a washlng position by said gearing.

- 28. A washing machine comprising a tank,

a hollow gear-containing column centrally mounted thereon and extending above and below the liquid therein and closed against access of the liquid thereinto, and a tilting clothes cage mounted on said column to rotate on a washing axis and driven by the gearing in said column.

29. A washing machine comprising a liquid-containing tank, a centrally located, hollow, gear enclosure extending above and below the'liquid therein, a tilting clothes cage mountedon its upper end and a driving motor supported by its lower end.

30. In a washing machine, a tank, a hollow structure mounted below the liquid level and extending above the same, a tilting cage supported on the upper part of said structure adapted to rotate in the liquid, and two-speed gearing mechanism mounted within said structure.

31. In a washing machine, a tank, a tilt-- ing rotary clothes cage having a re-entrant bottom, a support engaged with said cage'in its re-entrant space, and gearing contained in said support for rotating said cage.

32. A washing machine comprising an upright tank having its lower liquid-containing portion substantially circular in cross-section whereby it is adapted for horizontal circulation of liquid therein, a clothes cage adapted to rotate in the tank dipping into the liquid at one side of the axis of said circular portion and means for rotating said clothes cage.

33. In a washing machine, a liquid holding tank, a gearing containing supporting structure therein, a sleeve trunnioned thereon, a clothes cage carried by said sleeve and rotatable therein, and means to connect said cage with said gearing in either. of two angular positions, for washing and drying respectively.

34-. In a washing machine, a rotary clothes container adapted to be tilted from a drying to a Washing position and a relatively stationary cylindrical wall surrounding said container, the wall of said container being vertically curved in substantial concentricity with the axis on which said container tilts.

35. In a washing machine, a rotary clothes container adapted to be tilted from a drying to a washing position and having a reentrant bottom merging into a vertically curved sidewall, the curvature thereof being substantiallyconcentric to the tilting axis.

36. A washing machine comprising .a tank containing a clothes container in which the clothes are washed and centrifugally dried, an upstanding hollow structure constituting the support for said-container and enclosing its drive gearing and a lubricating system including a pump and oil ducts, all contained in said hollow supporting structure and isolated thereby from contact with the wash water in said tank.

37. A washing machine comprising a tank for liquid, a perforated clothes container, an

upright support in the tank on which said container rotates with its lower side dipping into the liquid at one side of said support, a motor for rotating said container and causing circulation of the liquid around said support, and means in said container whereby said rotation causes the clothes to drop into the liquid in the lower part thereof.

38. In a washing machine, a stationary tank for liquid, a clothes cage therein, means for supporting said cage for rotation optionally in an oblique position for washin in which its lower side dips into the tank liquid and in an erect position for drying and means for rotating said cage in both positions.

39. In a washing machine a tank, two driving members in the tank, a tiltable rotary clothes-container in said tank and means for movably supporting said container for axial movement into and out of connection with either of said members.

40. In a washing machine, a tank, a supporting structure thereon, a sheet metal clothes cage supported on said structure for rotation on either of two axes, a motor and drive connections for rotating it on either of said axes, said structure and cage having a supporting connection permitting manual axial movement of the latter and said cage having a rolled rim constituting a hand-hold therefor.

In testimony "whereof, I have signed this specification.

GEORGE W. DUNHAM. 

